I've visited a few wineries with Elchonon Hellinger and another friend (and driver, good friend of Elie Poltorak as well) over the last few days. Elchonon has been threatening me for quite a few days to post my TNs so I had no choice but to comply... After the Shomron on Sunday last week, we headed on Tuesday to the Gush Etzion Winery there to meet with the owner and winemaker Shraga Rosenberg and his son Assaf. Shraga gave us a complete tour of his gorgeous winery including some tastings of some very promising wines still fermenting in the vats and the barrels from this year's vintage. We then tasted thru most the wines and were offered a delicious dinner at the winery's restaurant courtesy of Shraga. I was impressed by the quality showed by the wines across the board as there was not a single wine I didn't like and all were in fact very good to excellent. When asked after the tasting and the meal what hot drink would I like, I thought about our dearly missed Rogov z.l. and ordered an espresso... Many thanks to Shraga and Assaf for a much enjoyed tour, tasting and meal. I couldn't have asked for a better treatment!

Gush Etzion, Lone Oak Riesling 2009: Pale straw towards green, with on the nose green apples, honeysuckle, peaches, ripe figs and spices. Light to medium bodied and dry but with a tiny hint of pleasant sweetness the palate features green apples, peaches, figs, honey, stony minerals on the mid-palate and a nice acidity combined with a hint of sweet lemon and spicy vanilla on a long finish. I enjoyed this one a lot, perhaps even more than the great Kayoumi Riesling (a TN for this one will follow further).

Gush Etzion, Lone Oak Sauvignon Blanc 2010: Very pale straw, almost like water the nose is a bit weak and not very communicative but does deliver some citrus and herbal notes. Medium-bodied with on the palate yellow grapefruit and pomelite (a hybrid of pomelo and grapefruit know for its antioxidant properties), passion fruit, melon with grassy herbal notes on a moderate finish. Well-balanced and with some sweetness as well. I wouldn't say it's off-dry but almost, could use a bit more acidity.

Gush Etzion, Emek Bracha White 2011. A blend of Chardonnay and Viognier, I didn't take note of how long it spent in the barrels (and looking back at my recent notes of the 2010 vintage: oups I did it again... ). Light gold with green-ish reflections with on the nose fresh delicate floral notes as well as ripe apples, bananas and vanilla. Medium-bodied with on the palate apples, bananas, a hint of toasted brioche, vanilla and white pepper with a tiny bit of pleasant tannins on a rather short to medium finish. A delicate wine I'd certainly enjoy with blue cheese or pasta and lox with a creamy lemony sauce.

Gush Etzion, Nachal Hapirim 2007: One of the winery's Bordeaux-blend featuring 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 26% Merlot and 9% Petit Verdot aged 14 months in mostly french oak barrels. Maturing very nicely indeed. Dark cherry-garnet with on the nose jammy cherries, raspberries and notes of cigar box. Medium to full-bodied with on the plate cherries, raspberries, cassis, black pepper, dark chocolate covered cherries and a hint of spicy oak with almost chewy tannins on the long finish. Lovely.

Gush Etzion, Lone Oak, Syrah 2009: Aged 21 months in french oak barrels. Clearly a Syrah and not a Shiraz with a more restrained fruit and potential elegance, more the Rhone type and very different than the sweet-ish recent releases of the GHW's versions. Best challenger here would be the Binyamina Avnei Hachoshen Odem 2009. Dark purple with on the nose raspberries, cherries, herbs and notes of roasted meat. Medium to full-bodied with on the palate raspberries, Mediterranean herbs, ripe cherries, garrigue, minerals and espresso with silky tannins on the long finish. A very nice Syrah that confirms my growing love for the variety.

We tasted 2-3 more wines, 2 from the vats but I didn't take notes. There was the delicious Cabernet Franc 2008 but having tasted it recently I don't have to change anything. I do recall the Nachal Hapirim white blend 2011 for it's off-dry, notes of lychee and bananas and very good acidity.

It was already past 9pm when we left the Gush Etzion Winery and headed towards Kiryat Arba, there to visit the Kinor David about which I've already written a bit a few months ago here, making the fabulous port-style wine Elchonon is so obsessed about . We were quite warmly welcomed by David Edri the special winemaker of this very special winery. Once inside the uninviting building sitting in the town's industrial zone, you feel like transported into a parallel dimension where nothing exists but the winery. After visiting the laboratory, the "museum room" and the vats and crushing room where David gave us some still fermenting Cabernet Sauvignon from this year's harvest, we were taken to the barrel room where you feel like hypnotized and disconnected from the real world, a place where nothing but port-red dessert delicious wine exists as well as the real deal: a 10 year + barrel-aged Sherry-Andalousie style wine, absolutely unique and incredibly delicious, mind-blowing and available at the winery only. The barrels spent 3 years under the sun and the wine is made mostly of Cabernet Sauvignon and Oloroso grapes. The winemaker makes his own brandy to fortify it.

Kinor David, KPort, 8 years barrel-aged NV: Deep garnet, with on the nose candied cherries, ripe raspberries, almonds and dates. Full-bodied with on the palate rich candied cherries, raspberry jam, fresh dates and caramelized almonds with a hint of black pepper and honey coated pecan nuts on a long seemingly endless finish. Truly unique, my favorite. And just an FYI (I don't do this usually but I'll do an exception here): I also sell it now.

Kinor David, KPort, 10 years barrel-aged NV: Dark garnet and light coffee-ish at the edges, the nose features here richer notes of dates and caramelized nuts as well as candied cherries and prunes. Full-bodied with on the palate sweet raspberries and cherries as well as dried figs and apricots, going on to reveal notes of ginger and candied orange peels with caramelized toasted pecan nuts and prunes on a very, very long finish. Truly great and unique but perhaps a bit too spicy for me.

Kinor David, Sherry "Andalousie" (I think it's 2000 or 2002): The wine is actually still in the barrel and the winemaker sells it exclusively at the winery and fills the bottle in front of you. 300 shekels, about $80. Not cheap by any means but I couldn't resist and a bottle sits now in my cellar for an opportunity well worthy of sipping it for... Anyway deep brown-ish garnet, with on the nose crazy raspberry jam, blackberries and butterscotch. Full-bodied and mouth-filling, the palate features raspberry jam but with a much more restrained sweetness than expected and than in the above-reviewed KPorts, followed by blackberry liquor, fermented cherries and kirsch notes, bitter almonds, chocolate covered raisins and caramel on the very long satisfying finish. In a league of its own.

We tasted also some wines from the barrel including Cabernet Franc from this year's harvest that was just transferred from the vats to the barrels a few weeks ago. Showed some promise with sweet notes of raspberries, tobacco leaves and garrigue. We kept tasting wine and talking until we finally left around 2AM (!!!) and quickly stopped at the Mearat Hamachpela (the cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron).I might set up a special Kinor David KPort tasting for Chanukka so stay tuned...

This last Sunday had us at 10AM at Carmel Winery in Zichron Yaakov, there to have breakfast at Bistro de Carmel, the winery's restaurant and meet with Israel's Wine King Adam Montefiore, certainly Israel's most respected figure in the Wine Industry and beyond, and justifiably so as Adam is a true gentleman. Adam, I know you'll eventually read this so thank you again for such a royal VIP treatment!

Adam walked us through the winery's different buildings, state-of-the-art vats and laboratory, barrel rooms, and its incredibly rich and fascinating history for almost 5 hours. We then ended the tour with a great tasting of some of the winery's best wines:

Carmel, Appellation Chardonnay 2011: This wine is partially oaked with some of it went thru malolactic fermentation and was barrel-aged for 6-8 months in used oak. Light gold with green reflections, the nose features green apples and citrus notes with a hint of spicy vanilla. Medium-bodied with on the palate ripe apples, lime, fresh almonds with some earthy minerals and nice refreshing acidity and a medium to long finish. A really nice Chardonnay.

Carmel, Appellation Gewurztraminer 2011: Light green-ish straw here, with classic lychee, citrus and flowers. Light to medium-bodied and off-dry with on the palate lychee, peaches, yellow plums and guava with a pleasant hint of spicy apricot on the moderately long finish. Very good.

Carmel, Kayoumi Vineyard, White (Johannisberg) Riesling 2011: A beautiful dry Riesling here, with even less sweetness than in the highly-praised 2010 vintage. Very pale green-ish, nice refreshing floral notes on the nose as well as white peaches and lemon. Medium-bodied and with a very light dollop of sweetness that only adds to the enjoyment of this wine that features on the palate apricots, honeysuckle, peaches, melon and lemon zest with refreshing salty-stony minerals and hint of spiciness on the moderately long finish. Yummzy!

Carmel, Limited Edition 2008: MAMMA MIA! This is F-A-N-T-A-S-T-I-C! I was really blown away here. Tasted blind this is quite a fine Bordeaux wine, impossible to guess its Israeli origins. 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Petit Verdot, 4% Cabernet Franc, 4% Malbec and 2% Merlot, aged 15 months in French oak barrels. Surprisingly enough, it didn't take so much of an extensive swirling in the glass to be approachable. Dark, almost impenetrable garnet towards purple, with on the nose black currants, blackberries, ripe plums and tobacco leaves with lightly toasted oak. Full-bodied and deeply extracted with on the palate layers after layers of dark plums, black currants, bramble, a clear obvious note of garrigue, cigar box, tar, black pepper and backer's chocolate with mouth-coating, almost chewy tannins on the very, very, very (etc) long finish. Rising elegance here, polished. Definitely one of the very best wines I've ever tasted, a masterpiece. Will probably rank Numero Uno in my top 10 best wines of the year for 2012.

Carmel, Mediterranean 2008: Second vintage for this game changing wine with 33% Carignan, 24% Shiraz, 23% Petit Verdot, 16% Petite Sirah, 2% Malbec and 2% Viognier aged 15 months in mostly used french oak barrels. Dark purple with on the nose crushed black and red currants with juicy red plums and pepper on the nose. Medium to full-bodied and more fruit-forward than the 2007 vintage with sweet and sour plums, crushed berries and ripe cherries as well as spicy oak, white pepper, leather and vanilla with nice softening tannins on the long polished finish. Beautiful wine indeed.

Then the icing on the cake... Adam promised me so a while ago and he's certainly a man of his word. We opened and enjoyed together some Rogov Brandy. Now I can say that each of the 100, 120 and Rogov Carmel's brandies is different yet the Rogov is closer to the 100 than to the 120. It's not as fruity and doesn't have the 120's light sweetness. A rich amber color, pine nuts, honey and cinnamon on the nose with on the palate rich, deep honey, almonds, vanilla, nuts, dried apricots, mellow maple, ginger, cinnamon and toasted brioche. I can certainly not speak for him but I've strong feeling that Rogov would have loved it. Anyway, I did!

Once the Carmel extravaganza was over we headed to the Tishbi Winery and their beautiful restaurant and tasting room there to meet with Golan and Jonathan Tishbi and another free meal... Great looking new labels across the board for this winery that has tremendously improved over the last 5-7 vintages. We tasted a bunch of wines but only 2 were new to me and we were granted as well a glass of the famous $450/bottle 16 year old Jonathan Tishbi Brandy to top off the tasting. Elchonon really loved the Sibgle Vineyard Malbec 2009 and that didn't surprise me at all as I'm a big fan myself. Many thanks to Golan and Jonathan for their warm hospitality as well as my apologies to the rest of the staff at the restaurant and tasting room as they had to do some extra time beyond business hours due to our quite late arrival.

Tishbi, Estate Pinot Noir 2008: Garnet and a bit muddy, with on the nose crushed red currants, cherries and slightly toasted oak. Light to medium-bodied with on the palate again crushed red currants, sour cherries and plums as well as roasted coffee beans and soft lingering tannins on the moderately long finish. Nice Pinot and not as refined as I'd like it but enjoyable.

Tishbi, Estate Syrah 2009: Dark cherry-garnet with purple reflections, on the nose plums, raspberries, blackberries and a hint of leather. Full-bodied and fruit-forward this is more like a cross between a Rhone-style Syrah and an Australian blockbuster Shiraz with gentle, soft juicy fruit and tannins featuring on the palate raspberries, blackberries and ripe plums, mocha and roasted meat with soft tannins on the long and mouth-filling finish. Very enjoyable.

Tishbi, Port-style dessert wine Barbera-Zinfandel, 2006: A blend of 50% Barbera and 50% Zinfandel, aged in barrels under the sun for 18 months and fortified with brandy. Dark garnet with some brown-ish edges, the nose features prunes, dates and raspberry jam. Full-bodied with on the palate blackberry and raspberry jam, dates, prunes, raisins, caramelized walnuts, cinnamon and spicy oak with nice tannins and a bit of heat on the very long finish. The heat eventually blows off after some good swirling and a few minutes in the glass, tasty.

I didn't take any note on the Brandy but it was quite lighter than the Carmel and more resembling a VSOP Dupuy. But nice and well-made that's for sure.

I will write up on Sunday, but I must agree that Adam Montifiore is a true gentleman, its been my greatest honor to meet with him and hear him discuss the past, present and future of carmel... oh and his sense of humor.. I must really learn to sleep at night!

The food at carmel was delicious, i love the rustic, charming yet luxurious layout and design. The food was fresh and tasty, service was fast and polite.. and drinking rose Brute for breakfast with Adam M is as good as it gets. I told Adam he should be knighted but he laughed, i'd nominate him for the Israel prize for all he does! Any ways, I need to finish the amazing book he gave us 120 years of harvests and get some carmel wine to taste and i'll write up a long rambling sprawling story.

Likewise Tishbi, I was very impressed with the food, the iced coffee was great, i had penne napolitan.. and ate lots of cheese, Jonathan tishbi was a great lunch gost, now Golan really played the true host at the bar, whipping out bottles right and left.

Malbec, its a wine im not really well acquainted with, I dont see many Israel Malbec's, but this one was just beautiful!

Gush, Gab discussed, i loved their tasting room and bar..

I love the winery's, I love the people I meet, love to taste with them, see their satisfaction as you enjoy their hard work..

I love the passion, the elegance and beauty in all of it, how starkly contrasted is this from buying a bottle of wine from some expressionless clerk in the USA that looks at you weirdly when you tell them how much you enjoy the bottle your buying.

Amazing to sit in a tasting room and really experience the wine as it should be.. and while kinor david has no fancy tasting room, sitting amongst his barrels is really something you must experience

Oh and did I mention I'm jealous? Everyone thinks we're nuts for how we rave about the Kinor Dovid until they taste for themselves. The 2 bottle Elchonon's brother brought me broke in transit but I expect Elchonon and Mendel to bring me back a case each

Gabriel:Interesting that you found the Gush syrah less sweet than the GHW releases. To my palate, it was far sweeter. The GHW syrahs are jammier but more balanced. I really wasn't terribly impressed with the Gush syrah. I like the rest of their lineup far better.

Elie: Indeed. I didn't find any remarkable sweetness in the Gush Syrah as opposed to the overwhelming one experienced with the Yarden Syrah 07 a few weeks ago and the well-known yet pleasant found in the Yarden Ortal 04 that I enjoyed over the chagim. I did like the Yarden Syrah 06 (love it) better than the Gush though.

Elie Poltorak wrote:Everyone thinks we're nuts for how we rave about the Kinor Dovid until they taste for themselves. The 2 bottle Elchonon's brother brought me broke in transit but I expect Elchonon and Mendel to bring me back a case each

Well, I took the plunge ... and went to Gabriel's shop to buy some (and of course walked away with a good deal more ... !)

I tasted some at the shop with my son and we thought it would be worth trying a couple of bottles.

However, the feelings when tasted 'in the real' on Shabbos were a bit different, and although the bottle was left completely empty, it was not as special or exciting as we thought it would be. Yes, the nose is really quite amazing, but after that, the feel in the mouth is quite a let down. I have to say that we are pretty regular Port drinkers - generally Porto Cordovero LBV 2004, although before that was rteleased we were quite happy with the regular Porto Cordovero (ruby port). One thing is pretty definite: it is (legal issues aside) definitely not Port! Interestingly, my wife, who does not like Port at all, thought is was pretty good ...

Folks, don't expect something cloying sweet or thick, it's not. The nose is amazing and you get most of the sweetness on the first attack and a nutty-like bitterness combined with fermented kirsch-ish cherries on the mid palate and then the sweetness rises up again but gently on the finish. I should actually correct my TN with ''medium to full body' instead of just full. For instance, the barrel tasting we had at the Har Bracha winery was also great but a totally different story, much more syrupy and with a fuller body, yet delicious.

Elie Poltorak wrote:Everyone thinks we're nuts for how we rave about the Kinor Dovid until they taste for themselves. The 2 bottle Elchonon's brother brought me broke in transit but I expect Elchonon and Mendel to bring me back a case each

Well, I took the plunge ... and went to Gabriel's shop to buy some (and of course walked away with a good deal more ... !)

I tasted some at the shop with my son and we thought it would be worth trying a couple of bottles.

However, the feelings when tasted 'in the real' on Shabbos were a bit different, and although the bottle was left completely empty, it was not as special or exciting as we thought it would be. Yes, the nose is really quite amazing, but after that, the feel in the mouth is quite a let down. I have to say that we are pretty regular Port drinkers - generally Porto Cordovero LBV 2004, although before that was rteleased we were quite happy with the regular Porto Cordovero (ruby port). One thing is pretty definite: it is (legal issues aside) definitely not Port! Interestingly, my wife, who does not like Port at all, thought is was pretty good ...

Aha, firstly congrats on sharing gold.. the KD "port" is possibly what a vintage port should / would taste like ? its 8 year barrel sit as opposed to the typical 2 years.. he balances out the sweetness so its a very smooth even balance between sweet and fruity.

He calls it on the label Kport, but I think the bottle should be drank slowly, and possibly let to open up. on the other hand, I can not tolerate any of the sweet ports on the market, har bracha's being the only other

If you bought more than 1 bottle, i'd suggest you revisit it slowly, when I tasted the 8 year port after nearly 10 months, it tasted the same amazing way as it did the first time, but go slowly with it,

Elie Poltorak wrote:Everyone thinks we're nuts for how we rave about the Kinor Dovid until they taste for themselves. The 2 bottle Elchonon's brother brought me broke in transit but I expect Elchonon and Mendel to bring me back a case each

Well, I took the plunge ... and went to Gabriel's shop to buy some (and of course walked away with a good deal more ... !)

I tasted some at the shop with my son and we thought it would be worth trying a couple of bottles.

However, the feelings when tasted 'in the real' on Shabbos were a bit different, and although the bottle was left completely empty, it was not as special or exciting as we thought it would be. Yes, the nose is really quite amazing, but after that, the feel in the mouth is quite a let down. I have to say that we are pretty regular Port drinkers - generally Porto Cordovero LBV 2004, although before that was rteleased we were quite happy with the regular Porto Cordovero (ruby port). One thing is pretty definite: it is (legal issues aside) definitely not Port! Interestingly, my wife, who does not like Port at all, thought is was pretty good ...

Interesting that your wine, who doesn't like port, is the one who like it. I'm not a big fan of the very few ports I've tried (obviously not enough kosher ports on the market for me to make any statement about port in general)--I find even the vintage versions to be far too sweet and heavy for my liking. That's why I love the Kinor Dovid so much. It certainly isn't a port--it's FAR lighter and less sweet. You can easily finish a bottle in one sitting, unlike port, which you can't drink more than a bit of. I also wouldn't venture to leave around an open bottle of KD for long(although I've never had the opportunity to try, as it's always polished off), as I doubt it will hold up. It's a delicate, complex, lightly sweet wine that can be enjoyed with food as well as on its own. So we agree that the name is a misnomer--it's definitely not a port. But it certainly is unique, special, and delicious! And neither I nor Elchanan own stock in Kinor Dovid--I promise!

Gabriel Geller wrote:Elie: Indeed. I didn't find any remarkable sweetness in the Gush Syrah as opposed to the overwhelming one experienced with the Yarden Syrah 07 a few weeks ago and the well-known yet pleasant found in the Yarden Ortal 04 that I enjoyed over the chagim. I did like the Yarden Syrah 06 (love it) better than the Gush though.

Andrew: Thanks!

I didn't much like the '07 regular Yarden Syrah either. The '09 is pretty good, as was the '06. With the Gush, it wasn't how sweet it was but more the type of sweetness--like an overripe fruit, where it sticks on the back of your palate. I thought it was the weakest wine of their lineup. Not terrible but not that great either.